Improvement in sewing-machines



3 Sheets-Sheet I.

W. WICKERSHAM.

Sewing Machine.

Pafented June 14,1864.

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N, PEYERs, PMhrLiUlogn-aphcr. Washingwn. 11C.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. WICKERSHAM.

Sewing Machine.

' Patented June 14, 1864.

3 SheetsSheet- 3.

W. WICKERSHAM.

Sewing Machine.

Patented June V14. 1864. i

N- PETERS. PhmLKhOInpher. Washkvgion, D, C.

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x. new: H-cvww 9M UNITED STATES PATENT Orricie.

WILLIAM WIGKERSHAM, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43.]46, dated June 14, 1864.

To all whom "it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WICKERSHAM, of Boston, in thecounty of Suffolk and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing Machinery; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of said machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same. Fig.3 is an end view with the needle-bar and cloth-presser, with their appliances, as fitted into the ma-. chine, ready for use. Fig. 4 is a bottom view, showingthe principal-parts of-the machinery on the under side. Fig.5 shows the details of the feeding operations and the looper therewith connected. Fig. 6 is an end view of the holder or carrier of the under needle, with the thread-spring. Fig; 7 shows the details of the thread-tension.

A is a table or plate, which constitutes with the trunk B the frame to which the machinery is attached. G is the main shaft. D is a pulley on said shaft. E is a connection-rod passing from a crank-pin in said pulley to the rocker-shaft F. G is a wheel in the form of a frustum ot'a cone, with grooves in its edge to operate the cloth-presser. H is a conical roll to work in said grooves. I is a short horizontal rod attached to the presser-foot rod J for the roll H to run on. a is aspring around the rod I to keep the roll H against the inclined edge ofthe wheel G. bis the presser-foot. c is a handle to raise the presser-foot up by. d is a connection-rod connecting the crank-pin in the wheel G with the needle-bar. e is the needlebar. f is the upper needle. gis a segment of a screw-thread fastened onto the rocker-shaft for the purpose of operating the feed. h is a bent lever through which the screw 9 communicates motion to the feed-bar. Said lever is attached to the under side of the steel plate '5 by means of the screwy, on which it turns. This lever is provided with two pins, 70 k, near one end, between which the screw-flange 9 works in such manner that when the rocker-shaft F turns forward and backward said lever will move one way and the other. The other end, onend from the pins 70 k of said lever, is slotted, and suitably formed for the flat part of the bolt 1 to fit into,which can. be moved from one end to the other of the slot, and be secured at any place by the nut m,which has a short handle.

The screw -flange,' or portion of a screwthread, g, which works between the pins k k, operating the feed-lever h, is attached to the shaft F by means ofa set-screw, and is shown in its working position at Fig. 2; also, the inclination of that part of it which works between said pins 70 7a to the shaft F is shown at Fig. 4. An end view of the same is shown at Fig. 5.

An end view of the bent lever h, so far as its connection with the pins is k is concerned, is shown at Fig. 2. A bottom view of the same as fitted into the machine is shown at h, Fig. 4; also, a separate bottom and an edge view, With-the screwj, which secures it to the plate i, are shown at Fig. 5.

' The feed-bar n is shown in its connection-at n n, Fig. 4. It is also, shown in a bottom and edge view at Fig. 5.

The not mis'shown in its connection at Fig. 4, and in a side view at Fig. 5.

The bolt 1 is shown in its place in the machine at Fig. 4, and in a 'side view wiith'its flat part in its position in the slot in thelever h at Fig. 5. v

The needle-carrier q and its needle 0" are shown in a side View at Fig. 2; also, they are shown in a bottom view in their working position at q r, Fig. 4, and in an end view at Fig. 6. The position of the needle 4" is also shown at Fig. 5.

The looperz is shown in its working position at Fig. 4; also, in its connection with the lever h at Fig. 5.

The feed-bar n, which is formed as shown in Fig. 5, is fitted onto the under side of the plate i, having its teeth project into the slots at i, so that their upperextremities are even with the upper surface of said plate. All theselast described parts-to wit, the screw g, the pins k k, the bent lever hand its fulcrum-screw j, the bolt 1 and its nut m, and the feed-bar n-arc shown in their working position at Fig. 4.

The round part of the bolt Z, or the end oppo-' site the nut m, is intended to fit into the crossslot in the end of the feed-bar 12. Now, as the slotted end of the said feed-bar is immediately over the slotted end of the lever h when in their working positions in the machine, if the bolt l is placed in the slot of the lever. h and secured there by the nut m, having the round part of said boltpass up into the slotin the end of the feed-bar, it is plain that, if said lever his moved orturned a little on its fulcrum j, the feed-bar will move also, and said lever being moved to a given extent, the feed-bar will be moved a greater or less distance in proportion to the greater or less distance that the bolt Z is placed from the fulcrum j. i

The feed-barn is fitted into theplate 1', (shown at i t, Fig. 5,) so that the teeth shown in the edge view at Fig. 5 project through and even with the upper side of said plate, the screws 0 0 holding it in its position, so that it can only move in a longitudinal and horizontal direction.

19 is the thread-spring, one end of which is fastened into the end of the rocker-shaft F, the other end having an eye for the thread to pass through; v

q is a needle holder or carrier, fastened onto the rocker-shaft near its end, made of suitable form to hold the lower needle, r, in its right position.

sis the lower plate of the thread-tension, which is titted on the upright postton the top of the machine in such manner that it can move freely up or down as occasion may require, but cannot turn around, two sides of said post being flattened to prevent its turning. In this plate 8 are four small holes close to its edges, two at each end, for the thread to pass through. Underneath the plate 8 and around the post if is a spring, a, so arranged as to press upward against the under side of said plate with a constant yielding pressure.

a is the upper tension-plate, which is placed on the post if on the upper side of the plate 8 and paralleltoit. Thenutt,screwedontothetopof the post t, holds both platess and a between it and the spring a in such manner that when one of the threads is passed up through one of the holes in the plate 8 between the two plates and drawn through the other hole at the same end, andthe other thread is in like manner passed through the holes and between said plates at the other end, there will be a tension-pressure given to the two threads which will be to each in proportion to their relative distance from the point of pressure of the spring it against the plate 8; and it has been found that the lower thread, 20, in the double chain-stitch needs only about one-sixth the amount of tension as the upper thread 00. .Hencethethread w is passed between the plates about six times the distance of the thread as from the post 1.

z is a looper, attached to the end of the feedlever h, having the form. of a narrow segment with a V-shaped fork at its outer end. This looper passes near to the hole in the plated for the upper needleto move through, and close up to said plate. The inner pron g of said looper, or the nearer one to the upper needle, is bent down a little to make it certain to take the thread. The object of this looper is to form that part of the lower thread, to, between the place of the previous stitch and the eye of the needle r into a loop-that is, to move it from .eration.

rod cl, to move the needle-bar and its needlef down through the cloth and up again to the distance indicated by-the drawings. When said needle carries its thread as down through the cloth to its lowest position and then be gins to rise a loop is formed by thethread ex"- tending out from said needlejust above its eye. At this stage of the upward movementof said needle the under needle, 4", passes with its thread to through said loop, while the upper needle ascends to its upper position, leaving its thread :0 around the said needle 1". The looper 2 then takes the thread to between the eye of the needle 1" and the place where the upper thread passes round said needle, loops it or separates it from said needle 1", so that the upper needle will pass between them at its next descent, and in this manner the two threads are passed through each others loop alternately, thereby knitting them together on the under side of the cloth as said cloth is fed along the length of one stitch during each op- A suitable motion is given to the needle 1* by the crank-pin in the pulley 1), through the connection-rod E, the rocker-shaft F, and the carrier q. The object of the spring 19 is to keep the thread straight, so that the looper can perform its function with certainty. It will be seen that the said looper is perform- 'ing its service of separating the lower thread from its needle while the needlefis in its upper position above the cloth, and at the same time the end of the feed-lever farthest from the looper is moving from the point where the stitch is being formed, carrying the feed-bar it along with it, and in case the cloth being sewed is between the presser-foot b and said feedbar (said foot being pressed onto the cloth at the same time) the cloth will be fed along as the feed-bar moves; but when the feed-bar moves the other way, (as it moves forward and backward during every revolution of the main shaft,) to prevent its moving the cloth backward with it, I have the presser-t'oot raised otfof the cloth, and at the same time the upper needle is through the cloth and near its lowest position. 1 cause the presser-foot to be raised up when the feed-bar is moving backward by the following means: I have the wheel G made in a conical form, as before described, and also about half of its circumference eccentrio, and on the eccentric part of the edge, or that part farthest from the center of motion, I make small grooves, and the other part I make smooth. On the rod I, attached to the presserbar J, is a conical roll, H, and a light spring,

13.146 p I a a, the use of which spring is to press the roll H against the inclined surface of G. Now, if the wheel G be turned, the roll 11 will roll around on its surface until the edge of said roll comes into one ofthegroovesin the edge ofsaid wheel, and then it will follow said groove onto the highest or largest part of said Wheel, thereby raising the foot up while the feed-bar moves back; but it thick pieces of cloth are placed under the presser-foot, so as to allow the roll to move over toward theotherside of said wheel or to a higher position, then when the wheel G is again turned the roll will fall into a groove at that elevatiomand following this around to its highest point, the presser-foot being raised as high above the cloth as in the iirst case'described; or, in other words, at whatever elevation the presser-foot may be raised by the thickness of the cloth under it by these eccentric grooves, it will be raised about the same height above the upper surface of said cloth when the feed bar is moving back, and in this respect it is self-adjusting or automatic, the Wheel G only needing to be adjusted on the main shaft so as to make the elevation of the presser-foot at the same time that the feed-bar is moving back. There is a slot cut into the cast-iron trunk B at c, and the screw 0 passes through the handle 0 into the presser-foot bar through the slot 0 to prevent the presser-foot from turn-' ing'. The presser-foot is held down upon the cloth with a yielding pressure by means of' passes through the two holes in the tensionplate 3 farthest from the post 15, and between the two plates, then passes through a hole in the lower part of the frame A, from thence to the eye in the spring 19, from this over the needle-holder q to the eye of the needle 0, and from this to the point in the cloth where the last stitch was taken.

Having thus described my machine,what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Automatically raising the cloth presserfoot b in sewing-machines above the surface of the cloth of various thicknesses in such manner that said foot shall rise higher for thick than for thin cloth, suiting the elevation to each thickness, in the manner and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, in sewing machinery, of mechanism for automatically raising the cloth presser-foot b variably to suit different thicknesses of cloth, with the feed-bar n, having merely a forward and backward motion in the same horizontal plane, in the manner and for the purpose described.

. 3. Attaching the looper z to the feed-lever h, operating in the manner and for the purpose described.

4. The arrangement of a sewingmachine making a double chain-stitch,-in which there is amain shaft above the table, operating the upper nee ile and the presser-foot, and a rockershaft below, operating the lower needle and the feed, in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. Operating both the feed and the looper 2 by the screw-flangeg, attached to the rockershatt, as described.

WILLIAM WIO KERSH AM.

Witnesses:

A. D. PARKER, HARVEY J EWELL. 

